Thanks to a partnership between the Guildhall Shopping Centre and Stafford-based The Original Cupcake Shop, 250 cupcakes will be handed out to shoppers on Saturday 19th December.  Customers will also be offered the opportunity to have any purchases made in the Guildhall on 19th December beautifully gift wrapped FREE OF CHARGE by our friendly staff – and of course anybody taking advantage of this service will receive a free cupcake. 

Alongside the tasty treat, there will also be the chance to participate in a Christmas Sing-Along when professional singer Sammy Hayes will lead the way with performances of ‘Snowman’ songs and other festive favourites.

Guildhall Shopping Centre Marketing Manager Anne Graham said: “Our customers really enjoyed our free cupcake giveaway in 2014 and we are pleased to be able to bring it back to the Guildhall this year.  We can’t think of a better way to thank our customers for their loyalty and to give them a special festive treat”.

Steve Moran is an Associate Director at Cushman & Wakefield which manages the Guildhall Shopping Centre.

He said: “We want to thank our customers for shopping at the Guildhall through the challenging times that we are all experiencing in business and in the retail environment.

“Our Festive Cupcake Giveaways is a small token of our appreciation.”

The Guildhall’s Christmas events programme is being organized by “Only on the High Street” - who specialise in organising events for shopping centres and high street retailers.

Director Laraine Robathan-Field said: “Traditional retailing continues to face stiff competition from the growth of online shopping, so it is imperative for retailers to be innovative and think creatively to survive and compete.

“The key is to provide the customer with an experience they can’t get online.  Our tailored Christmas events will help the Guildhall engage with customers and encourage them to visit and shop at the Centre by providing them with a fun and exciting experience.”

On Saturday 12th December, shoppers at the Guildhall Shopping Centre will be invited to take part in a festive ‘snowman hunt’ to find a number of snowmen hidden in the shops.  If shoppers correctly identify the number of snowmen and answer a simple question, they will be rewarded with a deliciously free cupcake and a chance to win one of the snowmen.

Thanks to a partnership between the Guildhall Shopping Centre and Stafford-based The Original Cupcake Shop, 250 cupcakes will be handed out to shoppers.  

Guildhall Shopping Centre Marketing Manager Anne Graham said: “Our customers really enjoyed our free cupcake giveaway in 2014 and we are pleased to be able to bring it back to the Guildhall this year.  We can’t think of a better way to thank our customers for their loyalty and to give them a special festive treat”.

Steve Moran is an Associate Director at Cushman & Wakefield which manages the Guildhall Shopping Centre.

He said: “We want to thank our customers for shopping at the Guildhall through the challenging times that we are all experiencing in business and in the retail environment.

“Our Festive Cupcake Giveaways  is a small token of our appreciation.”

The Guildhall’s Christmas events programme is being organized by “Only on the High Street” - who specialise in organising events for shopping centres and high street retailers.

Director Laraine Robathan-Field said: “Traditional retailing continues to face stiff competition from the growth of online shopping, so it is imperative for retailers to be innovative and think creatively to survive and compete.

“The key is to provide the customer with an experience they can’t get online.  Our tailored Christmas events will help the Guildhall engage with customers and encourage them to visit and shop at the Centre by providing them with a fun and exciting experience.”

The title of ‘Best Flipper In Town’ is up for grabs as we host Stafford’s annual Pancake Race next month.

The race takes place in the Market Square on Tuesday 9 February at 11am. You can enter your teams today at www.staffordbc.gov.uk/pancakerace. Entry costs nothing and you’ll have a chance to take home our coveted trophy.

Our Pancake Race has proven a popular event in recent years with many businesses from across town competing and spectators showing up to contribute to a great atmosphere on the day. We’d love to see any flippers in fancy dress if your team wants to dress up for the event.

Make sure you enter your teams of FOUR by Friday 5 February.

Good luck!

Fun-packed challenge days are taking place on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th February to celebrate the opening of the new i-Motion gym in the Guildhall Shopping Centre.  Join us in Market Square where you can prove your fitness in the Sled-run Challenge or do our Spin Watt Rate Challenge.  Can you to 'the plank'?  Can you do it for longer than anyone else?  Come down and prove it and win great prizes.  There are some great prizes to be won including gym day passes, membership offers, Fit Packs and personal training sessions.  

Events are open to both members and non-members of i-Motion and anyone wishing to have a tour of the gym will be given a guided tour of the facilities.  

On Friday evening (26th Feb) from 7pm to 8pm members and non-members can join in a Vibe-Spin session and on Sunday from 8am to 8pm there is a Spin-a-thon which is open to everyone.  Simply come down to the reception desk at the i-Motion gym to get signed-in.

Mother’s Day is not far away, but have no fear – the Guildhall Shopping Centre is here!

An expert team of gift wrappers will be ready and waiting for shoppers to add the finishing touches to their Mother’s Day gifts that are bought in the Centre. 

The service will be available between 10am and 4pm on Saturday 5^th March – the day before Mother’s Day – and follows on from the popular Christmas gift wrapping event, which has become a fixture on the Guildhall’s calendar.

Guildhall Shopping Centre Marketing Manager Anne Graham said: “We have offered the gift-wrapping service for the past two Christmases and it’s always been really popular.

“It removes all the stress and headache from showing your mum how much you love her – and you can buy her a special card at the same time too from Card Factory or Card Stop!”

As well as offering the free service to shoppers who buy their Mother’s Day gifts in the Centre, the Guildhall team will also be giving away 100 red roses to the first customers who visit them on the day.  Shoppers will also be encouraged to express their feelings for their mums by posting their messages of love and gratitude on our female mannequin.  

Once you shop .... you just can't stop!  Claire's in the Guildhall Shopping Centre will be holding a Shopkins Trading Party in store on Saturday 5th March from 10am.  

Shopkins are the newest super cute grocery-themed collectible characters that every girl will want.  Join Apple Blossom, Strawberry Kiss and the other characters from the Shopkins series with the latest Shopkins toys, bedroom accessories, kitchen playsets and more.  

Whether you're new to Shopkins or an avid collector, you are welcome to join us in store for this fun-tastic trading event.  See you there!!

The Stafford Cheese, Ale and More Festival will take place in the beautiful Market Square, in the heart of the County Town

on Friday 20th and Saturday 21st May 2016.

Cheese makers, breweries and local food producers will fill the Market Square in Stafford, with a fantastic range of products and a fine array of artisan food, as the county town hosts the 2016 Stafford Cheese, Ale and More Festival. The event proved a huge success in 2015 attracting tens of thousands of people to the town and so an extra day has been added as it returns for a third year.

New events for the Friday include, the opportunity to take Afternoon Tea in Market Square (including a scone making demonstration), and the chance to try over 75 different gins at the Stafford Gin Jamboree in the evening, these events are ticket only and must be booked in advance.

On Saturday top local chefs from the Staffordshire Chefs Forum will be getting the crowd's taste buds going with cookery demonstrations and there will be an alfresco bar.

A highlight on the Saturday is ....."The Great Chefs Challenge” – when two local chefs will go head to head in a ready, steady, cook style challenge at 1pm …..make sure you take your seats early; this will be something not to be missed, and two lucky members of the audience will be invited to join the chefs on stage!

For this year’s festival, we have more stands, music, street theatre and more events. Please see below for the latest programme and information on how you get involved:

An exciting event is coming to the shopping centre on Saturday 28th May 2016.  For the first time ever a 'real live' dinosaur will be walking the malls of the Guildhall in Stafford.

 "Tiny" is a 125 million years young dinosaur brought to life by the wonders of modern science. You can pet her, you can feed her, you can talk to her in dinosaur language; just make sure you avoid the dreaded Thagomizer or you might end up extinct yourself!

Our dinosaur is accompanied by a palaeontologist who presents alively and informative natural history show in which audiences are encouraged to share their knowledge of dinosaurs and to come up with some scientific theories of their own – comparative anatomy has never been so much fun.

This is an amazing opportunity to get up close & personal with a ‘real live’ dinosaur for the first time since the Cretaceous Era and to find out a few things about how they lived and why they disappeared. For example, dinosaurs aren’t quite as extinct as you might think; if you look out of your window you might see one right now!”

As well as meeting "Tiny" children coming along to the Dinosaur Experience Day can participate in free colouring and mask making workshops as well as join in with the free face painting and our tattoo parlour.  

Tiny will be making 3 x 25 minute appearances during the day at 11.00am, 12.30pm and 2.00pm.

Call in at the Guildhall Shopping Centre between Friday 12th August and Sunday 14th August to see a fabulous exhibition of photography.  Members of the Stafford Photographic Society have put together an intriguing and interesting display of their work for everyone to enjoy.  Members of the Society are on hand to answer any questions and explain how  the photographs have been developed- some using a number of layers of photographs to create the finished effect.  

The exhibition is free to enter and everyone is welcome.

The Stafford Photographic Society is a great place to meet new friends and develop your interest in photography.  Visitors and new membes are always made very welcome.  If you are interested in joining or are just curious, visitors are very welcome to come along to one of their meetings.  The Society meets at The Arthur Findlay Centre in Stafford (ST16 2RS) on Tuesday evenings at 7.30pm from September through to the end of May (with summer activities).

For more information, visit www.staffordphotosociety.org.uk